[Nexus] The Hunting Grounds 2: Murdering is Magic

[Recaiden]

The wolf waits for him. It seems entirely well by now, despite its injury earlier. Aric couldn't find a sign of it.

It's entirely possible that the Chrysalid could find the snowed in and burnt area that these two reside in. But if nothing does come across them, Ash will head for the edge of the hunting grounds.

[Aric Kale]

Aric notices that that the wolf does seem rather healthy. Unless they are attacked, Aric will pack up and head on with her.

[Devixer]

Forest

As the land around it gets colder, the Chrysalid starts to smell something familiar to it. It smells a human, a shell. It lets out a loud, low growl before continuing.

[Recaiden]

[Forest]

The wolf's ears prick up, and it turns its head around, listening again for that faint sound.

[Aric Kale]

Oddly enough, Aric's ears aren't quite as developed as a canine's...so unless the growl was more of a roar, Aric will merely stop and look at Ash curiously...Is something wrong?

[Devixer]

Forest

The Chrysalid will not growl or roar any further. But either of those that it's chasing may hear a frequent noise that suggests sharp footsteps, and a dark shape moving against the snow.

[Recaiden]

Ash nods, and looks around to show vigilance, and mimes sneaking up on Aric.

The flame-shapes try to demonstrate the same thing, flaring up to show the two of them, and a third thing appearing at points around them.

[Aric Kale]

We're being followed. It's not a question, it's a statement.
Aric grips the hilt of his spear, wondering what the Forest will throw at him next...
Do you know what direction?

[Recaiden]

Ash points back towards the frozen area, but tries to indicate uncertainty and confusion.

[Aric Kale]

Aric has a bit of trouble understanding the confusion. ()
Umm...something is back where we came from..

[Devixer]

Forest

Aric will probably understand what's coming fairly quickly, as the Chrysalid bursts from a nearby tree and darts for him, ignoring the wolf.

[LOTRfan]

Interaction Wanted, if Possible

[Mountains]
Parading through the cliffs of the mountain range is a small party of adventurers! And by small, I mean tiny. The tallest among them (a shadowy figure with fiery red eyes) doesn't stand above two feet in height. There's six of them, broken off into smaller groups but still close enough that any observer would be able to tell that they are part of the same group.

One pair of the creatures (a small sliver dragon with a hooked beak and a small slimy dinosaur-like amphibian) are busily chatting away in Draconic, and the amphibian starts laughing. A bit further ahead of them is a very odd pair; one is a glowing ball of yellow energy, while the other is a creature that vaguly resembles a plate with two eyestocks and several tentacles. They're both flying, though neither of them are talking. The last pair is another dragon (this one red in color, with a sharp stinger at the end of its tail), along with the shadowy figure. The shadow is flipping through the pages of a small book as the dragon chirps at it.

[ThirdEmperor]

Mountains

As the diminutive adventuring party wades through the bracken and undergrowth and threads their way along the mountain paths, they might just spot a glimpse of reflected sunlight from a steep slope not more than fifty feet ahead, coming from inside a thick cluster of brambles grown up around a towering oak.

First has certainly spotted them. Lying on the dirt in a small hollow between the thorns, he sets the binoculars aside and reaches for his rifle, taking aim even as he silently calls for his brothers to come to his position. Carefully, making sure not to rustle the bushes and give away his position, he unhooks a cylindrical canister marked with a white sun from his belt, preparing to launch it at the third group.

[LOTRfan]

[Mountain]

The only one who seems to notice the glint is the miniature dino-amphibian in the first group. He looks over curiously for a moment, before turning and muttering something to the beaked silver dragon. The other four members of the group are still unaware of anything going on, though, as the silver dragon squints to try to find whatever made the reflection in the first place.

As First is preparing to launch whatever the cylinder is, he may notice that the shadow and the dragon aren't talking at all. The shadow looks down at the book and makes eye contact with the dragon every once and while, but no words are being exchanged.

[ThirdEmperor]

Mountain

That is weird. Maybe they've seen him... But it doesn't matter, one way or the other. If they've seen him, all the more reason to attack... NOW!

The cylinder goes flying through the air in a perfect arc, bouncing off a stone next to the first group, and then again in a rolling tumble across the ground- And then it explodes in a blinding flash of light and an ear-splitting screech and a rush of horrid chemical odor, all designed to assault the senses until they blur into a useless mess, and overwhelming enough to cause actual, intense pain for anyone near ground zero.

A rich man's version of the flashbang.

And even as the stun grenade goes flying out of the brambles, First squeezes the trigger back on his assault rifle, quickly grabbing the barrel to steady it. There's a hum as energy rushes through the spiraling gauss coils and then a loud buzz like a swarm of hornets as bullets start to fly, shredding through the twisted vines and tearing into the earth around the first group.

Working against First are his target's small size and his chosen weapon's relatively imprecise aim, but it's fire rate is close to a submachine gun's and the sheer swarm of bullets issued forth might just be more than enough to counter those issues by brute firepower.

[Aric Kale]

Forest

By all that is blessed!
Aric turns to the sound of the Chrysalid charging towards him, his shield on one shoulder and a sack on the other. Not conducive to self defense...He'll awkwardly raise his spear in in effort to skewer said creature.

[LOTRfan]

[Mountain]

The silver dragon roars, fightened by the sudden attack. He lets out a roar, and suddenly breathes out a roiling magical cloud of fog that swiftly covers the area surrounding the group. You can still see the glowing ball of energy through the fog, however, and you can see silhouettes moving around within the obscured area too. Some of the bullets must have hit a target, as the sounds of something shouting out in pain can be heard.

A flash of searing light is fired from the ball of energy, aimed at First's general area. The probability that the light actually hiting First is very small, though.

[ThirdEmperor]

Mountain

Damn. First's visor filters out the brunt of the flash, but he wasn't counting on the opposition having their own concealment and it doesn't do him much good against that.

The bolt of light hits the patch thorns somewhere above and to the left of him, missing, but possibly setting the tangle on fire depending on it's intensity and how quick the spell dissipates on impact. At the moment, it isn't a concern either way.

Eyes darting between the silhouette's moving under the fog's cover, First shifts his thumb over a switch on the rifle's grip and presses it up into three round burst mode. And the next ripple of movement in the mist draws a sharp reprisal from him, quickly shifting his aim to lead the target before tugging the trigger back in quick succession.


If any of the opponents still retain their hearing after the stun bomb, then I don't imagine it'll be hard for them to hear the crashing footfalls and the snapping of branches as the next part of the trio approaches.

[LOTRfan]

[Mountain]
The energy will likely fry the tangles of thorns, but chances are the plant won't alight; the magical energy is meant to be precise and devastating while minimizing collateral damage.

The silhouette -which is both the tallest and thinnest of the silhouettes, which means it's probably the shadowy figure- doesn't seem affected by the spray at all. Whether this is because the bullets just missed (as unlikely as that is) or because the creature is simply not affected by them is up in the air, seeing how the fog makes it very difficult to see what exactly is going on. As First fires at the creature, a different silhouette starts dragging another one (presumably the wounded one) further into the cloud so that they disappear completely.

It seems that the ball of energy has maintained its hearing, as it starts firing rays of searing light in the general direction in which the cracking branches can be heard. A small burst of purple energy can be seen emanating from the clouds for a brief second, and then the shouting from the injured creature stops. It seems that at least someone in the group is capable of healing magic.

[ThirdEmperor]

Mountain

Damn. This was turning into a bad engagement. First locks in on the burst of purple in the smog and rattles off another three round burst at the epicenter, but the next pull after that brings an unwelcome *click*. Tapping the release on the stock and pulling another clip from his belt to lock into place, First reloads as fast as he can without fumbling, but it's enough to keep him from capitalizing any more on their healer broadcasting it's position.

At the same time, Alpha breaks from the treeline and comes charging into battle with shield raised up and sword in hand. He's clad head to toe in powered armor, segmented stuff with a bug-eyed faceplate that adds to the insectoid effect, more than sufficient to handle small arms fire- But the whisp's energy bolt seems to have done the job, striking him against the shoulder where even now the metal is molten and glowing bright orange.

With a roar, Alpha draws his sword in a fast wide sweep at the floating orb, leaving an arc of ephemeral fire traced in it's wake. The fire is weak now, but the enchantment is woven right down into the unmelting ice from which it's forged and should easily negate any immunity the whisp might have to normal weapons on account of it's incorporeal nature.

[Recaiden]

[Forest]

Although it is itself ignored, the wolf rushes towards the Chrysalid, lunging and biting at it. It doesn't know what to make of this thing, but it's clearly a threat.

A blast of fire separates from the wolf and rushes towards the monster.

[LOTRfan]

The weapon does indeed affect the orb; after getting slashed by the ephemeral weapon, the golden globe flys backwards. The very ground itself rumbles slightly as it starts muttering something in Enochian angrily. It attempts to take cover behind a nearby rock.

If Alpha is capable of receiving telepathic messages, he can hear a very quiet (and not quite human) voice in the back of his mind. "Cease and desist your attack. You will be sorry." Even as these words are transmitted, the fog starts to dissipate. About fifteen feet to Alpha's left, another wave of fog is created, and it starts heading in Alpha's general direction.

As this occurs, Alpha may or may not feel a creature climbing onto his back. If he does feel it, he'll know that it can't weigh more than a pound.

[ThirdEmperor]

Mountain

Notice a weight of less than a pound through powered armor? Not likely. But First does spot the Shadow crawling onto his brother's back from up on the hill, and therefor, so does Alpha.

But Alpha doesn't care. There's things that could hurt him later and there's things that have hurt him already and right now one of the latter is going for ground and that is not something he's going to allow to happen.

"No regrets!" Even in his mind the response is a thundering yell as he chases after the fleeing whisp, slashing at it once as it tries to duck behind the rock and then vaulting over himself, to follow through with a stop-thrust stab. The Shadow can try what it wishes- We'll see who drops first.

First has his own concerns. The second wave of fog rolling over the first like a wave of clouds gives him a brief, valuable opportunity- For a moment the creature spitting out the mists has made itself known. Flicking the gun back to full-auto, he pulls the trigger and the engine revs and a dozen rounds per second go screaming towards the center of the clouds.

And now the last actor is entering the scene, rising over a nearby hill. Unlike his brothers he isn't armored, dressed in civilian clothing, a white cotton tanktop and camo-patterned pants, but in one hand he's holding a bronze sickle and the other's wrapped around the grip of twelve-gauge shotgun. Not pausing for more than a rough approximation of aim, he points the latter towards the swelling fog and sprays buckshot in that direction.

[LOTRfan]

[Mountain]
If the globe can't escape Alpha's pursuit, it will suddenly fly back and directly into Alpha's face. If Alpha doesn't dodge quickly enough, the creature will try to collide into his forehead, crackling with a necrotic energy as it does so. The energy would be enough to drop a standard human, but the brothers would probably survive it (again, assuming it actually hits him).

With both the shotgun and the assault rifle firing at once, it may be hard to hear the dying screams of the dragon. And even if they do hear it, it'll be hard to determine who exactly killed it until after the cloud dissipates. The shadowy figure will attempt to climb up his back and try to stab one of the insectoid eyepieces of the armor with a small flaming shortsword (which is really more like a dagger, due to size).

[ThirdEmperor]

Mountain

Alpha's attempt to sidestep is a moment too slow thanks to surprise, the whisp tagging him across the side of his brow. The shock doesn't kill him like it would a normal human, thanks to his impressive resistances against such attacks, but it doesn't precisely feel to good- And then a burning dagger's shoved into his eye.

He roars and flails and stomps, trying to throw the shadow from his shoulders and at the same time twisting around to aim at clumsy parting hack at the sphere of light as it presumably resumes it's attempts to escape, spewing out a stream of obscenities I won't bother to transcribe.

Up on the hill, One spots his brother's trouble and abandons the bombardment of the mist cloud to help. As he takes off running downhill he slashes the sickle across his own chest in a curving line, the blade greedily lapping up blood and bringing a dim light to eldritch symbols etched along the bronze as his speed suddenly spikes, footfalls turning to a blur.

First continues his own task regardless of the others, turning his crosshairs now upon the the dim shape skirting dangerously close to the upwards edge of the cloud cover. Flight can be a hazard as an advantage on the battlefield and the Flumph's high position has earned it the rest of the gun's magazine, doled out in bullets three by three.

[LOTRfan]

The sphere ((who was actually hit by one of the attacks as it tried to flee, sorry, should have specified)) has indeed tried to flee again, dodging the clumsy hack and briefly turning purple. What exactly this effect did isn't very obvious, as the sphere doesn't seem to have changed, but if that armored suit is capable of reading lifesigns they'll know that the Archon healed itself. This time around, however, the healing magic wasn't nearly as effective as the first.

The shadow, on the other hand, is grasping to the hilt of the dagger for dear life, while at the same time attempting to dig the blade further into the wound. It's probably not doing very well with the latter objective, as the first is much more important to it right now.

As One starts running downhill, two magic missiles dart out from the clouds, intending to hit him flat in the chest. It comes from the side opposite of which One killed the dragon; it seems that the party is scattered throughout the area the cloud covers. Unfortuntely for the party, the cloud is beginning to dissipate again.

And the flumph is hit! The flumph starts falling down, red blood flowing forth from the wounds erupting from the aberration's yellow skin. As the creature falls, it flings a spear in First's general direction. Chances are it will miss, but if it doesn't First might end up suffering extra damage depending on whether or not First would be categorized as "Evil." Seeing as the Nexus isn't restrained to D&D morality, the smite evil attempt may very well fail.

[ThirdEmperor]

Mountain

A spear from roughly fifteen yards, thrown at a concealed enemy by a wounded man flumph? It's no great stretch to say the spear misses it's mark and lands among the brush instead, leaving First unharmed and able to continue harassing the opposition- Which brings us to his dilemma. Somewhere in the fog a member of the opposition is playing at his game, sniping at his allies On the other hand, leave the flumph alive and it can be healed and continue to fight.

In the end, First goes for the sure thing. The opposing sniper could have moved by now, or could have directed it's attacks so as to conceal it's position. The flumph is wounded, visible and not in much state to evade, and as soon as First has locked another magazine into his rifle's feed, he fires off another three rounds at the injured paladin. Alpha and One will have to fend for themselves until the cloud cover lifts.

And to be fair, they're more than capable of that. Alpha roars again, blood dripping down from the ruined socket of his eye and filling his mouth and the smell of sizzling flesh filming his mask. Oh, but he's not done yet. Down an eye, but he has five left among his brothers. His soul struck with a wasting blight, but he has souls to spare after devouring those of his victims.

And rage. He has rage aplenty.

His shield drops to the ground and with the now-free hand he grabs at the dagger digging into his ruptured eye, trying to wrench it free, and free from the shadow grasping it. And all the same he doesn't let up against the whisp, stumbling after the blob of light and swiping wildly with his blade of burning ice.

One staggers as the magic missiles slam into his chest in two intense bursts of energy, making him falter momentarily, but only to regain his footing and continue on in the charge a moment later, covering the ground at impossible speed. If the whisp or any other foe crosses his path he'll slash at them with his sickle in parting, but his real goal is the shadow, and he'll try to cut it from his brothers back with the enchanted blade.

[LOTRfan]

The flumph paladin tries to use lay on hands -or, more accurately, lay on tentacles- but is interrupted by several more gunshots that rip open the upper side of it's body. Tentacles flail about as the creature starts to die. Getting desperate, the Flumph sucks in a significant amount of air through its mouth and pushes it through the openings in its sides, propelling it into the air. As it starts its descent (which is sped up considerably as the flumph uses the same technique to propel itself downwards), the Flumph attempts to take cover behind a nearby thicket.

Already injured and having witnessed the Flumph get shot repeatedly, the Archon is now in this for the kill. The globe suddenly disappears, an action that is followed by the sound of the flapping of dozens of invisible wings. One might actually hear the flapping of wings as the globe rematerializes about ten feet behind him. The globe fires another ray of light, aimed directly at One's back.

The shadow is forced to let go of the dagger as it is tossed about four feet away, leaving the weapon in the hands of Alpha. The Shadow is struggling to get up, leaving it wide open to counterattack.

At that moment, however, the small red dragon charges forth from the mist; electrical energy crackles around its stinger, and in its mouth is a device similar to a bear trap. Surrounding its form is a translucent field of magical blue energy, taking the shape of heavy barding. It charges straight towards Alpha, releasing a quick magic missile as it does so.

[Devixer]

Forest

Before the Chysalid reaches Aric, a wolf is suddenly lunging at it. It'll find that its claws and fangs likely aren't terribly effective against its armored body, nor is the jet of flame going towards it.

The wolf is now the greater threat than the shell carrying a spear, so the Chrysalid tries to grab the wolf's jaws with its hands and pry them open.

[Aric Kale]

Forest

Before the Chysalid reaches Aric, a wolf is suddenly lunging at it. It'll find that its claws and fangs likely aren't terribly effective against its armored body, nor is the jet of flame going towards it.

The wolf is now the greater threat than the shell carrying a spear, so the Chrysalid tries to grab the wolf's jaws with its hands and pry them open.

Aric uses the distraction to steady himself, preparing to charge as he looks for any weaknesses in the Chrysalid's armor.